The Secret World: Player Activity Up 400% Since Relaunch with B2P

The latest Funcom financial report is out and contains some interesting tidbits of information, including the note that player activity in The Secret World is up 400% since last month's relaunch as a 'buy to play' game. Funcom is also reporting that over 70,000 copies of TSW have been sold since the relaunch.

Funcom will be undergoing restructuring as well:

The restructuring of the Company will involve cost reductions through the closure and the consolidation of offices with the goal of creating a stronger unified organization that can take full advantage of the exciting opportunities that face the games industry as it steps into 2013 and beyond.

Details on the results of the restructuring will be made available once the process is complete.

I grabbed it when it went B2P and was on sale for $15. I have spent maybe 20 hrs with it. For the price I got it it was worth it. I play it when EQ2 is patching or to just take a break and shoot some zombies.

I hope they can retain the customers and generate revenue now that it's B2P. I played beta and pre-ordered lifetime. I did all the missions, lore, rares, and achievements possible. I grinded NMs over and over for 10.4 sets, and when it was quiet I grinded Fusang prior to 1.4 for 10.3 sets. I loved the lore, the cut-scenes, the investigation missions, in fact everything. I was only angry for tops 5 minutes when they changed the lifetime subscription and got over it once I understood the changes. I loved the NM challenge but in the end it is still just a big grind fest after you've done the PvE stuff on a second character. They should hire a psychologist to study how they can socially influence people to buy their issues and use the social clothing concept as a revenue from the item store.

Originally posted by DrakynnThis is a good thing for Funcom for sure but did anyone expect any different?Now if they can retain a healthy percentage of these new people over time and convert that into signifcant DLC sales for their future issues and cash shop sales that would be actual news.

Quite agree and the future depends on quality content delivered fast enough. Also, some features letting players to create something would not hurt imo

"TSW's Xfire numbers are still way down from launch (ranked 16 at launch), but it looks like it's now growing. Since B2P TSW has increased Xfire hours played by 300%. Its ranking had a high of 43 this weekend with triple the amount of users using xfire.

There still is a long way to go with the pvp content (PvE is rock solid), but this is good news for Funcom and TSW."

You'll be hearing from my attorney.

I would also like for this to be admitted exhibit b2981, as it adds to our case that Xfire is reliable in predicting trends within the overall mmorpg community.

With these results maybe we will see more B2P titles in the future since this payment model seems to continue to gain traction. Though TSW isn't my cup-o-tea for several reasons I'm glad to see them go the B2P route instead of F2P, and making it succesfully work for them so far.

Unless this is translating to item shop and DLC sales, it doesn't mean much. Also, the game still suffers from being one you play for only 30-90 days.

Don't get me wrong, it's a cool game and all, but it has potential to be great if it wasn't such a themepark / dungeon grinder experience.

A sure sign that you are in an old, dying paradigm/mindset, is when you are scared of new ideas and new technology. Don't feel bad. The world is moving on without you, and you are welcome to yell "Get Off My Lawn!" all you want while it happens. You cannot, however, stop an idea whose time has come.

it's a cool game and all, but it has potential to be great if it wasn't such a themepark / dungeon grinder experience.

All mmorpgs are grinders. Your either grinding a quest, a dungeon, or the world (such as it is). Computerized RPGs (on and off line) are just that way. Until there is a true artificial intelligence "GMing" the experience, they will be more obviously over structured and ridgid grinds.

So now the only question is......

How smooth and involved a grind is it? In otherwords how bad or good is the experience.

I like to grind at games too, I just dont kid myself about what they are (compared to the real thing - real RPGs, not cRPGS of any type)

These results only mean something if they retain the players and gain continual high revenue from the item shop.

Just remember, after around 3 months of going F2P, Funcom announced that over 600,000 new AoC accounts were created and as we all know not only from their financial reports showing only a small revenue increase....the servers are near empty right now.

Going buy to play shows a fail Subscription game and the need to try to save the game, its no different than a game going freemium, its a last ditch effort to try to save the game...only time will tell if it works or not.

No matter what happens, history shows that no game that goes freemium or B2P after having a subscription does near as well as a game that is true F2P with a great item shop in terms of revenue.

I hope we shall crush...in its birth the aristocracy of our moneyed corporations, which dare already to challenge our government to a trial of strength and bid defiance to the laws of our country." ~Thomes Jefferson

Bought the game pre-order, loved it but the timing wasn't great, GW2 stole my soul. The B2P announcement came just as I was getting burnt out on GW2, this time perfect timing, at least for me. I love it and will be throwing money at DLC and maybe the occasional outfit.

Really pleased this is working out for them, I hope it's sustainable, really is a great game.

Originally posted by bcbullySo you add a few % and now it's YOOOUR story?BCbully 12-19-12"TSW's Xfire numbers are still way down from launch (ranked 16 at launch), but it looks like it's now growing. Since B2P TSW has increased Xfire hours played by 300%. Its ranking had a high of 43 this weekend with triple the amount of users using xfire. There still is a long way to go with the pvp content (PvE is rock solid), but this is good news for Funcom and TSW."You'll be hearing from my attorney.I would also like for this to be admitted exhibit b2981, as it adds to our case that Xfire is reliable in predicting trends within the overall mmorpg community.ps. I'll settle out of court for a star.

Big difference in hours played and the figures Funcom is using lol. Number of active players has increased, number of units sold has increased.

Xfire doesn't show anything remotely similar in the increase for number of players lol...

This would be why people don't use Xfire :P

Figured I'd add since the B2P conversion I'm part of that 400% as well :P

Bought the game when it went b2p and i love it. Sure combat is not as smooth as in gw2, far from it, but this game has such good storylines, quests and atmosphere it is unbelievable. People are friendly, and they actually talk to eachother.